Dominic Monaghan probably expected a lot of surprises while traveling the world to film his BBC America series, “Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan." But not this one.

A new species of spider has been named after the “Lost" and “The Lord of the Ring" trilogy star. While searching for the giant huntsman spider in Laos for the first season of “Wild Things," Monaghan came upon the previously unknown species that has been named Ctenus monaghani after the actor.

"As a lover of all things wild and a fan of spiders, it is a real honor to have such a special creature named after my last name" Monaghan said in a statement. “The fact that it was found in Laos whilst making ‘Wild Things’ makes it all the more special. Feel free to call me Spiderman!"

Dr. Peter Jager, a spider expert at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany, announced the discovery and introduced the new spider species in the scientific journal “Zootaxa."

Etymology: This species is named in honour of the British actor Dominic Monaghan who filmed together with the author in Laos for the documentary show “Wild Things"; Dom’s enthusiasm for nature in general, and spiders and other little respected animals in particular, was the driving force behind the production of this documentary; name in genitive.Read the full report here.

The “Giant Hunstman Spider" episode of “Wild Things" first aired Jan. 29 on BBC America as the second episode of Season 1. Here is the network’s description of the episode: “Dominic journeys to Laos in search of a remote underground river that is home to a venomous, massive-fanged creature the size of a dinner plate, the giant huntsman spider--an arachnid so rare that only a few humans have ever interacted with it in the wild."

Two suburban men assaulted and robbed a panhandler on the South Side on Monday—then came back and beat him again after one of the men left his cellphone at the scene, prosecutors said at a court hearing Tuesday.

A day after Trevor Noah was declared the new host of "The Daily Show," his graphic tweets targeting women and Jews are causing a social media backlash and Comedy Central is defending its newest late-night star.

Ronit Bezalel has seen just about everything on Chicago bike paths, but on her Monday morning commute she found something that shocked even her: A silver Buick, almost unscathed, in the middle of the bike path.